IDP resettlement re-ignites Raila, Ruto political rivalry

Related Stories

 Raila says he will respect public’s choice of leaders

 Eldoret North MP William Ruto and his Coast ally Chirau Mwakwere on the campaign trail to popularise G7. Photo: File/Sta

 G7 leaders dismiss talk of discontent

 Ruto allies plot mass exit from Orange party

 Anxiety as Raila’s deadline on Mau evictees nears

 MPs accused of plotting to derail resettlement of Mau evictees

By Vitalis Kimutai

Expectations are high among families evicted from various Government forests in Rift Valley with a renewed commitment to resettle them.

Last week, tenders were opened for land which the Government intents to buy for them in various parts of the region. The Government has set aside Sh1 billion for the resettlement.

Eviction and resettlement of the families has been a major course for political differences between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and MPs aligned to Eldoret North MP William Ruto.

Ruto and company have accused the PM of spearheading eviction of the families who overwhelmingly supported his candidacy in 2007 General Election, before finding alternative land for them. Government security forces and forest rangers were used to evict the families. They have been living in makeshift structures by roadsides.

The evictions were to pave the way for the Government to rehabilitate the Mau Forest, a leading water tower. Unchecked human activities and settlement had led to depletion of the natural resource leading to sharp decline of water levels in rivers and changed rainfall pattern, which caused major concern among conservationists.

Beneficiaries

It is expected the resettlement would be a major issue in next year’s elections in Rift Valley especially among the presidential candidates.

A total of 12 people with parcels of land in Kuresoi, Rongai, Nakuru, Gilgil, Kericho, Laikipia and Muhoroni submitted their bids to the Ministry of Lands in response to an advertisement placed in local dailies.

Lands Minister James Orengo said 8,000 families living in ten IDP camps in Mau Forest, who had been profiled, would benefit from the exercise.

Orengo said 250 families evicted from Embobut Forest in Marakwet East would be resettled in a 1,060-acre farm the Government bought at a cost of Sh118 million in Kipkabus area, Uasin Gishu County.

MPs aligned to Ruto including Kuresoi MP Zakayo Cheruiyot in whose constituency the evicted families reside were left out of a committee formed by the PM to oversee the resettlement.

Recently, Raila announced Kanu vice-chairman Gideon Moi had been included in the committee chaired by Orengo. Members of the committee include ministers Franklin Bett (Roads), Musa Sirma (East African Community), assistant ministers Beatrice Kones (Home Affairs), Langat Magerer (Energy), Julius Murgor (Environment), and MPs Joyce Laboso (Sotik) and Wilson Litole (Sigor).

MPs aligned to Ruto who are conspicuously missing in the team include Cheruiyot, Julius Kones (Konoin), Benjamin Langat (Ainamoi), Charles Keter (Belgut) and Luka Kigen (Rongai).

Presidential order

President Kibaki directed senior Government officials early this year to ensure resettlement of all IDPs was concluded in six months, but 10 months later, the exercise is yet to be completed.

Raila has changed tact on the approach to issues affecting Rift Valley and is keen on mending fences directly with the electorate while avoiding direct altercation with the renegade MPs who have openly associated themselves with UDM party.

Ruto has accused Raila of capitalising on the plight of the evictees for political mileage in the pretext of conserving the environment. He, recently, said the formation of the committee was unnecessary.

"You cannot fool the people that you are committed to resettling them when you are to blame for their woes (eviction). Those thinking they would use the resettlement to endear themselves to the people of Rift Valley should know their schemes won’t succeed," Ruto said.

Cheruiyot said the families deserved to be settled by the government without further delay.

"The people have a constitutional right to be resettled and they should not be subjected to further pain and suffering. Raila and his team should not imagine even for a minute they are doing the evictees a favour," Cheruiyot said.

"More than 54 people who were ejected from their former farms and dumped by the roadside have succumbed to diseases yet someone wants to make political capital out of it. It simply would not work as it is not lost on the people that the sudden ‘concern’ on the plight of the families is hypocritical," he added.

The MP claimed 15 of those who died are children, three others were aged more than 70 years while the rest were at the prime of their lives.

Sirma and chairman of the Poverty Eradication Commission Gen (rtd) John Koech said the Government was committed to bringing to an end the agony the families. He called on fellow politicians in the region to stop politicking the resettlement exercise.

"This is a process that involves people’s lives. Let us not inject politics to it," Sirma said.

But Bett said no one was opposed to the MPs aligned to Ruto being included in the committee.

"The committee is not opposed to any of the MPs (read rebels aligned to Ruto) being included in the team as the process is not political. It has nothing to do with 2012 poll as some claim," Bett said.

"It does not matter if current or former MPs are included. Our objective is to bring to end the suffering of the people."

Magerer said the committee expected the first batch of the families would be resettled by the end of second week of November.

"It is unfortunate that some of our colleagues are not comfortable with the resettlement as they wanted to use it as a campaign tool against the PM in 2012," Magerer said.

Kanu Secretary-General Nick Salat revealed that Gideon was drafted into the committee after the party proposed him for inclusion.

Healing process

"We, as a party, have always pushed for the resettlement of the families and we felt we needed to be part of the healing process as the people," Salat said.

Politician-cum-businessman Stephen Ng’eno says politics has clouded the resettlement exercise with competing interests wanting to make capital out of it. He demanded the Government resettles the families within Kuresoi and builds houses for them as happened with 2007 post-election violence victims in other parts of the country.

"Let us stop the political sideshows and resettle the families who have been condemned to abject poverty and ravaged by diseases, hunger, starvation and deaths," Ng’eno said.

Former Kuresoi MP Moses Cheboi wants leaders to put side their political differences and resettle the families.

"We do not care which process is used or who is involved. All we want is to successfully undertake the process to satisfaction of all parties," Cheboi said.

Moi University law lecturer Titus Bitok said Raila was using the resettlement exercise to reach out to voters in Rift Valley after falling out with majority of the MPs.

"It is in bad taste to exclude area MP from the committee. The move might backfire on Raila. You would expect a prudent, well meaning national leader not to sideline elected leaders in the spirit of inclusively," Bitok said.

A task force chaired by former Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor Hassan has been spearheading conservation of the Mau Complex.